Monday, November 23, 2009

Goldfish is a solid gold South African success story if there ever was one- the little fish swimming into the big sea, and making waves out there!

'We're like fish out of water. Englishmen in New York, or in this case, South Africans in Ibiza. Musicians in an ocean of DJ's. To say we are out-numbered in Ibiza is an understatement- But that is what makes it so damn exciting, coming here as outsiders- with nothing to lose and everything to prove', write Goldfish, known to fans as 'the fishies.'

For Goldfish take partying to a new level. They are not just DJ's, but musicians- and the combination is intoxicating. Dominic Peters and David Poole (or just "Dom and Dave") are deeply involved in their music. While others may have been messing around in garages, both took music degrees at UCT, becoming qualified jazz musicians. Their music became increasingly influenced by electronic elements, and the two joined forces to form a partnership that would revolutionize dance music, starting in SA and soon spreading with their international gigs.

It is the unique blend of electronic sound and the magic of live instruments that draw their audiences again and again- a rich cocktail of music, sights and sounds that surround you. The old school grooves of sax mixed with the deep beats of bass added to upbeat electronica lead to an irresistible mix that is the soundtrack to summer. And Goldfish are the ultimate live act– no matter if it is an intimate venue or 7 000 people at a Pacha Ibiza party.As they said in an interview with Cape Argus Tonight,they ‘feel like we have touched a global nerve.’

This year has been all about consolidation for Goldfish- 'from having the crowd sing your track back to you in Brazil to cracking a nod to play Glastonbury', Goldfish is making soundwaves worldwide. This year they toured Europe while basing themselves in Ibiza, where they have a residency at king of clubs, Pacha. Moscow, Dubai, Portugal, Milan, Switzerland, Cape Town...

Yes, the Fishies always remember the Goldfish, bowl, where it all began. In its third year, they are playing 12 exclusive parties: Submerged Sundays at La Med in CT- 'where the world meets Cape Town.' It's summer at its sweetest and sexist, the perfect way to end the weekend and party like you're in Ibiza! See the event here: http://www.facebook.com/#/event.php?eid=173522489626&index=1 With sushi from Tank, summer sun and sunsets, and La Med's refurbishment complete (there’s a more spacious Dance Floor, a new VIP area and reserved parking) the stage is set for a summer to remember. I went to the opening party on 22 November and it was like diving into the sea on a hot summer day- refreshing, wild, submerged!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful city, and to be able to explore it on my feet. The photos above were taken on runs I have done in the past week- one up to Signal Hill, and one on the beach front. Running these roads, breathing in the addictive fresh air, appreciating the strength and power of my body, and feeling connected to nature and the world around me are all reasons why I love to run outdoors.

I am so lucky to be able to do this is such a beautiful space. Whether it is appreciating earth or ocean, mountain or beach, I am surrounded by sumptuous scenes that awaken my senses. Surrounded by the silhouettes of the mountains and the green-blue-beige of the landscape, I feel the intricate connection of all things and all people. To do this is to experience connection and humility- I am part of something so much greater than myself. These stones have witnessed this city; these mountains cradle us, this sea is a timeless rhythm of reassurance. And as my feet push me forward and my breath brings me life, I am part of it all.

Somehow in SA I think this trilogy has been dismissed by many as just another thriller blockbuster series, without much substance. If anything, the opposite is true. I have not read such a monumental and intricate work of fiction in a long time. Without wanting to sound disrespectful, it is not surprising that Larsson dropped dead of a massive heart attack after giving the Millennium manuscripts to his publisher. (In the third book, a character drops dead of a heart attack after working too hard, eerily forshadowing the author's death in many ways.) Not for a long time have a read such detailed and descriptive fiction. Whether it is in the realm of journalism, medicine, law, politics, women's rights or computer hacking (to name just a few of the many subjects this series delves into), Larsson presents it in researched, painstaking detail and knowledge. The result is a book where you have to concentrate on the intricate details you are presented with, and where you learn about everything that Larsson incorporates into his story.

Not only this, but Larsson exposes his country, Sweden, in all its flaws and flavours. What is startling to the reader is how this book is so deeply entrenched in Swedish society, and how un-Americanized it is. Larsson shamelessly splashes Swedish names, places and words throughout the text, so that it is completely and utterly steeped in that society and its history. The result is refreshing and powerful- even if it is just for the fact that you feel like you have travelled Stockholm's streets by the end of it. Larsson leaves it up to the reader to orientate themselves with the unfamiliar Swedish words and names that fill the narrative, which gives the reader a sense of empowerment as he orientates himself in a new landscape.

Or perhaps I should say she. If anything, Larsson is a champion of women's rights, and this emerges brutally and beautifully throughout the trilogy, as the theme is woven throughout the narrative, the characters, and the structure of the book itself. The heroine of the series, Lisbeth Salander, it the epitome of this motif, standing as both a victim and a champion of the rights of women. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire both examine the abuse of women, particularly in human trafficking. Before each section of The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest there are detailed descriptions of how women have fought in battle in history, foreshadowing Lisbeth's own battle against the forces of injustice have ruined her life. As it says in the article I mentioned above, in the concluding pages of the final book, 'Blomkvist sums up the nature of Salander's experience: "When it comes down to it, this story is not primarily about spies and secret government agencies; it's about violence against women, and the men who enable it."'

Finally, Larsson's trilogy is a perfect, meaty, magnificent story. It is complex, fast-paced yet detailed, and utterly addictive. He masterfully weaves together a fleshed-out cast of characters and a nuanced, multidimensional narrative.

This trilogy is about morality and justice and the systems that enable these to flourish or die. It is about the victims of systems and the power of words and actions. After reading the series, the loss of Larsson as a literary talent is all the more potent and poignant, and it is a tribute to his legacy that we read his thrilling fiction.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Twitter asks you to answer that question, to fill a space made just for you. Facebook asks what's on your mind, as if its clearing a spot on the couch for you to sit and vent your thoughts. They may be small spaces, but they ask you to fill them. I have come to realize that as our lives begin to become more attached to these social networking sites, the question 'what are you doing' becomes a pertinent and pressing feature of our everyday existence. In turn, we are forced to think about what we are doing, and most importantly, how we would like to answer that question.

The ultimate result of this is that people are aware of not only what they are doing, but what they would like to do. This means that they begin to do more. And they begin to do things that they would ultimately be happy to represent them in a 'tweet' or 'status' online.

Therefore I feel that social networking is subconsciously forcing people to get out there and do more, or in turn do things that are personal goals, so that their life and brand are represented positively in the online world- one that is increasingly becoming a parallel universe to our lives. While people could 'lie' about what they are doing, social networking is about representing the reality and of living in an online form- so lying about it is the antithesis of Twitter and Facebook. Rather, one would fill the space with the truth, but to do that one must go out there and do whatever it is that they would like to represent themselves.

So while some may claim that social networking is forcing people to stay at home and live in a virtual and unreal world, I feel that the opposite is true. People are forced to answer the question by going out there and doing things, or making things happen to represent their personal and professional brand. This is where the contradiction comes in though, because a person will only flaunt the things they do that they find positive, creating a 'surface' representation of themselves, as they would like the world to see them. But this in turn could force a person to question how it is that they would like the world to view them, and make changes in their own lives.

We see this in extension on Facebook, where photo albums are made to show where the person has been and what they are doing. Someone may go to an event or make an effort to do something they may have previously been too lazy to go to, because they are subconsciously compelled by the space they've been provided to document their lives. And who would want to leave that space empty?

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

On 4 January 2008 in Iraq, Donya was born with a large hole between the lower chambers of her heart, and thickened muscles in the right ventricle. She was also diagnosed with Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), which is a very large fissure between the upper chambers of her heart. All this meant that she urgently needed extensive cardiac surgery to repair her heart, which her home community could not provide.

Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) is an Israeli-based international humanitarian project that works to help children like Donya. Their mission is to improve the quality of paediatric cardiac care for children in developing countries who suffer from heart disease; and to create centres of quality medical work in these regions. SACH is devoted to the idea that every child deserves the best medical treatment available, regardless of that child’s nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender or financial situation.

Motivated by the age-old Jewish tradition of Tikkun Olam – literally translated as ‘repairing the world’, SACH contributes to the futures of children from around the globe by mending their hearts regardless of their origin and, in turn, uplifting their families and societies.

The variety of treated children and their origins is extensive and astounding, and one can browse through endless such stories on the SACH website. Since 1995, Save a Child’s Heart has treated more than two thousand children, from infancy to 18 years old, and from more than 30 countries. 40% of the children are from Africa; 49% from the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Iraq; 4% from Moldova, Russia and former USSR and 7% from China, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Yet more than 1000 children on SACH’s waiting list are still in need of this life-saving surgery. SACH primarily provides the life-saving cardiac surgery for these patients, and their ultimate goal is to create centres of competence in developing countries, where children can be treated in their own communities and by their own medical professionals. SACH therefore provides medical personnel with in-depth post-graduate training in all facets of paediatric cardiac care. Training is held under the auspices of the Sackler School of Medicine of the Tel Aviv University and the Centre for International Cooperation of the Foreign Ministry of Israel. Since its inception in 1995, SACH has trained 50 physicians and nurses from China, Ethiopia, Moldova, Nigeria, the Palestinian Authority, Eritrea, Kenya, Russia, Vietnam and Zanzibar at the Wolfson Medical Centre.

Mikhaela Levitas, A University of Cape Town student, spent time volunteering at SACH this year. “I fell in love with the kids and with the organization,” she says, describing how she helped care for the children on a daily basis. “There are children from all over the world - the Palestinian Territories, China, Ghana, Nigeria ... a Palestinian child can get operated on by a Jewish doctor. In medicine, there are no boundaries to saving a life. ” she adds.

It is through such extensive and intensive work, training and dedication that SACH manages to save so many children’s hearts. On 1 January this year, three days before her second birthday, Donya was operated on by doctors from Save a Child’s Heart in Israel. By the time she returned to Iraq in February, her heart had healed completely and she began to live a normal and healthy life.

Monday, November 2, 2009

There's something about Halloween that I love. Yes, I hear your protests of selling out to a silly American custom, but I still feel there's something more to it. People love to dress up, wear masks, indulge in fantasy and a bit of fear. There's something intoxicating about it. Think about how different cultures embrace dressing up in a ritual way- for example Judaism has the festival of Purim, where Jews wear masks and dress up in celebration.

Anyway, as a history student I have to delve into the history of Halloween. Where did this strange tradition come from? Got this from http://www.history.com/content/halloween/real-story-of-halloween

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. Because of the rigid Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited there.

It was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups, as well as the American Indians, meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge.Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition.

So there you have it. Halloween does have a history that adds further dimensions to it than it being a silly American custom. I think this shows how human beings have always gravitated towards the unknown, and expressed this by alternating the reality of the self by wearing fantasy dress.